By Mary Cunningham
Let’s see now.
Last weekend, the Flyers finally traded Chris Pronger, who hasn’t played since 2011 because of concussions, and on Monday he was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Hey Flyers fans, don’t read too much into that!
Going in this year is unprecedented, however, since he is still under contract as an NHL player. His inclusion took a bylaw change that specifies a player’s final game must be three full seasons ago. The fearsome defenseman last played in 2011 because of post-concussion syndrome.
”Nothing I’ve done has been the easy way, so I guess this would follow suit,” Pronger said on a conference call Monday, brushing off any awkwardness about going into the Hall with two years left on his contract.
He was named along with fellow Stanley Cup winners Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov and former NHL star Phil Housley. Rounding out the class of seven are Angela Ruggiero, Bill Hay and Peter Karmanos Jr.
Pronger, traded from the Flyers to Arizona last weekend, works for the league’s department of player safety. He won the Hart Trophy as MVP and Norris Trophy as top defenseman and captured the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks. He also led the 2006 Edmonton Oilers and 2010 Flyers to the final.
Along the way, he built a fierce reputation on the ice.
”Chris was trying to get at me every game he played against me,” Fedorov said. ”Hard, hard battles. You’ve got to prepare for it every game. Chris was playing 30, 35 minutes maybe a game and he was in game shape.”
The mild-mannered Dryden, Ontario, native thanked his Finnish mother for his on-ice persona.
”I have a very short temper,” Pronger said. ”It wouldn’t take much to set me off.”
